MAD MEN

During the final scene, was Ben in a parka and his underwear??? That was far more disturbing than anything else he's done to date.

Spectacular episode...especially the reveal fab Mod Sally. The show is becoming much more lurid...which I love. The Summer of Love is about to happen...but it didn't come from nowhere. The entire culture was moving towards it, and I love how the show is delineating it.

How much do I love Sally!? My heart breaks for her. Just when you think Rodger can be a nice guy for just one evening.. I now even have some sympathy for Meghan. Her parents are another horror show.

"All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."
Conan O'Brien

Ha some fan far more clever than I am should really make some mock "next week on Mad Men" videos... I love how they don't tell you ANYTHING about the next episode except, perhaps, what characters will be seen.

I almost had a heart attack when Don found the empty elevator shaft. Was it just his subconscious or are we having an LA Law ending for somebody?

Pete and Beth aka Rory Gilmore, that will not end well. I feel like Pete is the obvious choice to be the one dead but lately he has been so aggressive and bitter about stuff that I am beginning to think whoever is at the other end of him in a meltdown is in most trouble.

Who was that actress that played "lakshmi" (sp?), the hare krishna chick? Now there's some fabulous acting...2 tiny scenes, terrific character. (OH, btw, Phyl, the ALI thing might refer to the infamous Ali/Liston heavyweight fight in '65). or not? I looooove this show.

Last night we were more worried about Don wrecking the Jag than anything else!

"All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."
Conan O'Brien

What struck me about the Aly Khan mention and flowers scene is that it is about the past for Don and Joan, and how both view the past and present. Aly Khan or Prince Ali was Rita Hayworth's husband and of course, Hayworth was the hot red head of the 40s and 50s. But by 1966, Hayworth was pretty much done and for Joan 'finding somebody else' when she has a kid coupled with her age is not realistic. But Don still wants to keep the past afloat by putting on a fedora thinking Sinatra when Joan just tells him he looks more like Jimmy Durante than anybody else. As awesome as their chemistry was on screen (I liked Mo Ryan's comment that it had the power to light up cities), they were two friends and two people who looked out of the past in that bar scene with Don, the romantic, and Joan, the realistic. Sure, Joan gets very nostalgic playing Doris Day at the bar and I am certain Don's flowers to her were out of nostalgia because really, she needed those flowers for comfort after losing her control of the situation e.g. the divorce from Greg. In some ways it reminded me of the Don-Peggy moments in "The Suitcase" episode (though that ep. is far superior) where you see characters open up to each other in non-judgmental ways though also holding back on stuff (Like Peggy never telling Don who is the father of her child nor Joan telling anybody about Kevin's paternity). I wonder if Greg figured out the math with Kevin's birth and on what grounds he filed.

And for some reason I am just as worried for Don having his name forged on the check just as much as I am worried for Lane forging it.

I love that Joan simply smashes things when it all gets to be too much. Genius.

This episode was NOT The Suitcase...or the LSD episode from earlier this season. But I really appreciate the way they're laying this season out. I wouldn't call this a 'placeholer' episode, but it was smaller in scope than some of the others, and that's ok with me. I enjoy breathing through in episode just as much as I enjoy holding my breath.

She told him she was pregnant and that it was his because her husband had been gone too long. She went for an abortion, but you could tell she was changing her mind. The next thing you saw she was talking about being pregnant to her husband and saying they would find out at work soon enough. Then, this season, she brings Kevin into the office and Roger holds him up and there was kind of a moment. He mentioned buying him a bicycle. He's also mentioned money another time. They never came right out and said that this was his baby, but he knew.

Yep. Joan also mentioned in passing she already had two abortions and I think it dawned on her that this may never happen again. Plus last season she was treated like a piece of meat and had no respect from her co-workers like seasons past, so motherhood seemed like a good option and retreat. Then she realized she missed the office and also Greg showing his true colors once again.

Roger also mentioned to Don this season that Jane wanted to have a baby and remarked, "Why do that to someone?"

Thank you both for clarifying. It was clear that Joan knew the father of her baby was Roger, but I just didn't realize he knew as well. There was also that great fake-out moment in the season premiere, with Roger rushing towards Joan with Kevin in her arms and saying, "There’s my baby...now move that brat out of the way so I can see her".

Did anyone else see the Mad Men cast on Inside the Actors Studio? It was all kinds of wonderful.

Joan also was on her feet a bit too quickly for a woman who supposedly had the procedure that was so obvious that even Roger voiced concern about whether or not she should be working. Weiner spoke about having no intention of making this a 'guessing game' of whether she had the abortion or not but he also had no intention of confusing people of what happened to Peggy's baby (the baby got adopted by some family rather than being raised by her sister) that people are still confused by. Now Joan lying about it, and this is just my opinion, was her accepting the idea that in her mind it is Greg's baby. She still is under this state of mind based on her recent conversation with Roger by not accepting his financial support and sticking with the notion Kevin will be Greg's son.

But since she was never seen with anybody and told Roger there was no way it could be Greg's it pretty much pointed to him and him only. Plus she supposedly worked at SCDP through the entire pregnancy according to Megan and Peggy's conversation in the premiere. Roger by the time she returned from maternity leave probably had several conversations with her about her pregnancy but alas, that was all off-camera like so many other juicy things this show tells us happened.

I was going to mention the Peggy baby thing too, which I admit I found really confusing and at some point just looked up online what others were saying. With Joan it didn't confuse me as much--I can accept and believe that in the world of Mad Men plot points like this get dealt with off camera, between the seasons. Strummer, I think your description is spot on.

Tiny Magic mentioned the actress who played Lakshmi is Anna Wood apparently. I was sure I knew her from somewhere, but her imdb is very brief and nothing stood out. For a bit I was sure I knew her from a soap opera which has happened before (the actor who played Megan's father had a fairly long run as a serial killer on All my Children, as did the actress who played Suzanne Farrell in past seasons).